Turkish drone attack kills three Yazidi fighters in northern Iraq

A Turkish drone attack Monday in northern Iraq killed at least three fighters from the minority Yazidi community affiliated with the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Iraqi Kurdish officials said.

"A drone from the Turkish army targeted a vehicle" in the region, killing an officer and two combatants from the Yazidi Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a statement from the Kurdistan region's anti-terrorist squad said.

The three fighters were heading towards Sinjar, a stronghold of the Yazidis, at the time of the attack.

Local media reported the death of 'Pir Chako', a commander of the 80th Brigade of the Popular Mobilisation Forces militia umbrella group. The 80th Brigade is made up of fighters from the YBS.

Some fighters from the YBS were included in the PMF’s fold upon an agreement struck on military control of the Sinjar area last year.

Sinjar had for years been a complicated patchwork of different armies and militias, many of whom moved in during war with the Islamic State (IS) group.

Turkey has dozens of military facilities in northern Iraq for use in its war against the PKK, and it has repeatedly carried out strikes targeting the group in northern Iraq, where it has bases, and its allies.

The Turkish army has yet to comment on Monday's reported drone strike.

Outlawed by Turkey for waging a brutal insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1984, the PKK said it was temporarily halting its operations following the devastating 6 February earthquake that struck Turkey and neighbouring Syria.